The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

The Great American Health Insurance Scam

Nov 9, 2015

Tens of thousands of people currently receiving health insurance subsidies stand to lose those subsidies come January 1st. The federal insurance marketplace has a new question this enrollment period: “Did your household file a 2014 tax return and reconcile any premium tax credit you used?” If the answer is no, then no more subsidy.

Not only did you have to file a 2014 tax return, but taxpayers receiving subsidies also had to attach I.R.S. Form 8962–a document comparing the subsidies paid with the amount they were entitled to receive. If they didn’t have the foresight to do this, they will not be eligible for subsidies in the future.

This was not a mistake or badly written law. If it were, the answer would have been simple. People could have been notified that they needed to file, or even asked a simple question on a postcard–that would have cut away the ridiculous red tape with one blow.

No. This was intentional. They want to cut the subsidies while pretending to provide health insurance!

What kind of society forces people to buy crappy insurance they cannot afford and then fines them when they can’t afford it? Apparently this society–where profit is king!